The next day, we went on a day tour to the outskirts of Taipei. We went to the Taipei Main Station to take bus 1815 going to Yeliu.
Yehliu is a small port village, which is more famous for its geological formations.
Yehliu harbor
Yehliu Geopark
This regios features an interesting geological formations due to volcanic rocks covering on top of sedimentary rocks. Waves and wind eroded the sedimentary rocks faster, thus creating interesting shapes of rocks. The most famous one is the Queen’s Head, as shown below in its replica.
Replica of the Queen’s Head
It was an extremely hot day. We used umbrella to block the sunlight, but the humidity was unmanageable. We walked around to spot out rocks in interesting shapes.
Turtle?
The Queen’s Head
Slipper?
Rabbit?
Mushrooms?
For lunch, we had seafood in Taiwanese style. It was a small local restaurant so we didn’t expect much, but it tasted really good.
Clams
Whole fish
Next, we went to Houtong by taxi. It is also known as the “Cat Village,” because of so many feral cats wandering around the village. A fun activity here was to bring a cat toy and play with cats.
Lazy cat
Cat toy
Some people would give them food
There was also a cat-themed gift shop.
Gift shop
Cats and toy mice
Train station
Next, we took a train and then a bus to get to Jiufen, an old mining village. It is famous for an old street filled with small shops.
There were also many delicious food.
Ice cream peanut wrap
Wheel cake
Grilled mushrooms
At the end of the street was an overlook. It was exactly the scenary of Jiufen and the Taiwanese coasts depicted in the movie A City of Sadness.
Perhaps the most famous place in Jiufen is this staircase filled with red lamps and tea houses. The tea houses may offer a nice view, but they are quite overpriced.
Tea house
Red lamps
Around sunset
On our way to catch a bus, we had street food for a quick dinner.
Noodles and sides
We took the bus 1062 to Taipei and returned to the hotel.
Hudson Han's Log 